Bells & Whistles
by RebelWolf
Summary: Written in Pan's perspective, a phase of Trunks' life several years after GT series ended.
1. Default Chapter

ff: Bells & Whistles

**Bells & Whistles "Past"**

It has been nearly three years since that fateful day. Trunks took that final plunge that altered my life forever. As I stood by his sister, I couldn't hide my tears. Bra naturally tried to console me, but she too, knew the reasons behind the drops from my eyes. There was nothing either of us could do. This was it, Trunks and I could never be.

And even now, as I read the headlines on the mainpage of Western Capital City's newspaper, The WCC Tribune, I have to question fate. Trunks' life has been nothing close to happy and content. Ever since that day, the reporters have kept the world informed of the troubles the once 'World's Most Eligible Bachelor' was enduring. What started out as an arranged marriage to the daughter of another powerful company president was turning into disaster for Trunks and Capsule Corporation. Bulma had arranged it. Her son had hesitated when she told him, but he gave in. He didn't know what he wanted out of life anyway so he allowed his mother to cut him a path. It wasn't uncommon afterall, for corporations to seal deals by the marriage of offspring between executives. Bulma had waited long enough for Trunks to choose his own mate and he never bothered to seek one out. So she got one for him. Her desire for grandchildren and her worry of Capsule Corporation slipping out of the Briefs family control without an heir were pressures she couldn't be patient with any longer.

Sure, Trunks' wife was beautiful and grade A super model quality. She had been trained since birth to make a wonderful corporate wife, but nobody had expected the stange twist of fate that bore down on the union of Trunks and her.

I remember the days before the wedding like they were just yesterday. Trunks was nervous as he always is at something new and unpredicatble. And me, being his closest, bestest friend (aside from Goten who wouldn't understand anyway), he confided in me and sought the comfort a friendship often offered. I had asked him if he loved her. He said in marraiges such as this, love eventually could come around. "You learn to love it." he said with a semi-confident smile. But his eyes betrayed him. His blues were searching my soul and trying to grasp something from my heart. At first I thought it was out of our tight bond of friendship which of course, would change once he was married. His wife was protective and jealous. She thought of me as a threat. But his eyes showed something to me that he had never shown before. It made me wonder, did he feel the same way about me as I have about him for so many years? Inwardly I cursed myself for not showing him my secret crush that manifested into love for him. But again, I always thought his 'love' for me was like that felt between brother and sister. He often referred to me as his step-sis. And again, I returned to the image of his searching blue eyes.

Anyway, for the past three years, they have been trying to conceive a child... a must-have heir to the Capsule Corporation and Briefs future. Frustration and humiliation plagued them as reporters found out about the problem while Trunks was trying desperately to find out if it was he or she with the fertility problem. After both opted for medical examinations it was found that his perfect corporate wife was barren. She would never bear his child. Standard marital rules state that if a child cannot be produced from the union than the marriage can be annulled. Whether they discussed it or not, it was now public. They were breaking up permanently. The two companies forged in the partnership were now also on shaky ground. I cried the night I heard this news. Trunks didn't deserve this. He was the perfect gentleman and extremely handsome and kind, a 'white knight' that women sought so hard to find but rarely did. I have no doubt in my mind that he attempted every option to try and save the marriage. Perhaps it was the wifey's choice or could it be she knew of her barrenness all the while and went through with this so her daddy could get a piece of the Capsule Corporation and Briefs fortune? Ah, but I'm probably being bias out of my own caring for Trunks.

Trunks had once told me a while back that he didn't want to get married out of fear of this very situation. Too much value had been placed on him too fast thanks to his mother. Every woman he met or dated was out to get his fame and fortune and he doubted there would ever be a female that could overlook those and love him for himself. I wanted to scream and throw myself at him and say "HERE I AM!!!" but that never happened. Something held me back. And even today, if I can find out what it was, I'll grind it to a pulp! Bulma had told him that if he married money then the woman wouldn't care about his own and would love him for him. But, Trunks tested her theory by dating money. He even took it one step further by dating fame. Be if famous corporate daughter or movie star, he ended up used. All they wanted was his body. Trunks became their boy toy. Needless to say, Bulma never said another word about that theory of hers.

And what about me? As gutsy and bold as I always thought myself, I was a coward around Trunks. I could never tell him how I really felt about him. Perhaps if I had, he'd have seen me differently. But, maybe I feared our great friendship would change if I let the cat out of the bag? Probably. We had a perfect friendship. Now, I've graduated college and am a financial assistant at a prominent investment bank in Satan City. A scholar of money as my dad puts it. Okay dad, whatever. But, I'm single and facing similar problems as Trunks. I'm Mr. Satan's granddaughter so his fame and fortune follow me. Male or female, they're all gold-diggers. And so, I can't help but wonder, was Trunks and I meant to be together? We have so much in common that its uncanny!

Glancing at the news on tv, the same subject appears as on the newspaper. Isn't there anything more important going on in the world than the nitpicking of a corporate marriage gone awry!? Perhaps I should blast something if only to draw the attention away from Trunks' troubles. Trunks has done nothing but good for these people and they turn and stomp his life to the ground! He's given them jobs, put money back into these cities, defended them from deadly enemies, helped save this entire planet, and his company gives them wonderful conveninces and devices to make their lives easier. How can society treat him like this!? Vegeta once said that Earthlings are crueller and more selfish than any full-blooded saiyan could ever be. I now see his perspective.

I want to run over to Trunks right now and hug him and tell him everything's going to be okay. Is my motherly instinct kicking in? Why isn't his own mother helping him through this? Is the Briefs family really as cold as Trunks used to say it was as a joke? Was he joking or was he trying to be serious without hurting his and his family's pride? I have to wonder now.

So now what? Poor Trunks. Is it pity or sympathy that I'm feeling? Perhaps both? There HAS to be something I can do. There just has to be! The question of the century though, is _what?_

to be continued...


	2. Bells & Whistles pt.2

ff: Bells & Whistles

**Bells & Whistles "Present"**

And now, a couple more months have passed and still I ponder how I can offer assistance. And while I sat in my stupor, I received a knock at my door. Who the hell would be knocking at 2am!? I know, daddy told me never to answer a door so late at night, but something compelled me to. Sorry daddy.

I'm glad I did. It was Trunks. After the annulment that shaved the Briefs and Capsule Corporation fortune nearly in half, Trunks often could only wander in public at night or else reporters would continue to swarm like vultures waiting to pick at a dying animal. He was in bad shape. The usual gleam in his eyes was dim and his hair dishevelled. I've seen him come out of physical beatings in better shape than this! I offered him the warmth of my quaint little apartment. It wasn't much, but I don't really think he cared. He took a seat at my dining table and I offered him a cup of freshly brewed coffee. He was lucky I was working late on some client accounts that night. A slow and forced grin lit his face slightly as he thanked me. For some reason my eyes trained to his left hand. The golden ring I had watched placed on his finger that day three years ago was now gone.

Unsure what to say, I allowed him to speak first.

"How do I find my way to you everytime?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. It's just, whenever I'm in trouble, I find my way to you. Never my mother, or father, or anyone else...just you."

I wasn't sure if it was a compliment, a realization, or just a statement.

"I envy your parents dear Pan. They married out of love. I've always envied them for that."

"Trunks, you're not that old you know. Love can still happen for you, but only if you want it to."

It was then that he looked at me in that same expression he did that time before the wedding. His blues singed through my soul and dove into my heart. Damn you Trunks, the fire you light within me is unbearable and hard to suppress!

He must have liked what he found. His soft grin turned into that patented Vegeta bloodline smirk. I grinned back, not knowing how to take it.

"You want to hear something totally crazy and off the wall Pan?"

Now he peaked my curiousity. "Sure, shoot."

"I think I've known my true mate all the while. I doubted my heart all these years, but finally my brain agrees. She's been standing before me disguised as a friend all these years."

I gulped. Was he confessing his love to me? "Really? Wow Trunks."

He smiled again. The gleam in his eyes was returning. "Wow yourself. You knew."

I gasped. I what!? "What do you mean?"

"I sensed the crush you had for me when you were a little girl. Puppy love. But after that Dragonball hunt, it became something more didn't it? That year we spent together in space affected us both in a way neither of us would admit."

I couldn't believe how true his words possibly were. He was answering the questions my heart had sought all these years! We were like two pieces of a puzzle that were only meant to fit with each other.

He placed his coffee mug down as I did the same. He gently took my hand in his from across the table. "Love has a strange way of showing itself doesn't it?"

I still could not get any words to release from my mouth.

"And yes, I know what you're going to say. I just got over a nasty break up and trying to rebound. Hardly. It was never there to begin with. It could be tonight, tomorrow, next year, or the next decade for that matter. The thought pattern and my feelings would remain unchanged. What I feel now I'd feel then."

There was logic to what he was saying. I could tell mentally, he was speaking without the distraction of what had just happend to him recently. And this was coming straight from him. Not enough time had passed for him to be pressured or influenced by his mother, society, or anyone else.

I couldn't find the right words that my heart spoke to my soul. I needed him to hear them though! Perhaps he could read minds or he just needed the same thing I did because that night, something wonderful happened.

The next morning, actually it was morning already when he arrived at my place, but anyway, we had both severely overslept. But despite my phone ringing nonstop, both Trunks and I blocked it out and came to realization of what transpired before the sun rose. We were both naked in my bed. The lamps that were once on my nightstands were now on the floor, as was my alarm clock. One of my high heel pumps was stuck to the ceiling above us. My blankets and comforter were a tangled mess on the floor. We were only covered by a thin sheet. The pillows were acoss the room. I returned my look onto the corporate half-saiyan only to see Trunks' amused and playful expression.

"Oops." he said, his voice raising as a comedic, wry expression formed upon his face.

"Oops?!"

He raked a hand through his hair as if he was a little boy trying to find the right words to get out of trouble. The look was priceless! The old Trunks I had known before the marriage was back.

"Ooops what?" I asked again.

"We trashed your room." he tried to say seriously, but the urge to laugh was evident in his voice.

I couldn't help but laugh. But he turned serious again.

"We're both big time late for our jobs."

I laughed again and stole his initial phrase. "Ooops."

He then lifted the covers and looked at himself, then me. He had looked just moments earlier, but apparently his brain wasn't fully awake to register the observation. "We're naked."

"Wonderful observation Sherlock."

He then looked up at the ceiling, fascinated by my footwear that had stabbed the ceiling above us. "Wonder where the other one went?"

I scanned the room for the mate to my shoe that was impaled on the ceiling. He looked too and suddenly started to laugh.

"What!?"

He pointed to the wall near my dresser. Impaled in that wall was the other shoe. "Oooops." was his chuckling response.

"Oh man, was it THAT good last night?!" I asked though I knew damn well it was. Through the use of our bodies, we had touched our souls.

That Vegeta style smirk formed upon his lips once again. "Damn straight." Then he became very serious. "Uh, what part of the month are you in?"

"Huh?"

"We didn't exactly use protection last night y'know. It was a spontaneous type of thing."

Was he serious?! Of course he was. He was as virile as a stallion who hadn't had any action in weeks. What he was leading up to was a very real possiblity.

"Let's worry about that later. I think we both need to call our jobs or we'll both be in a heep of trouble."

Trunks got up and walked over to my alarm clock that was on my side of the room. Was he aware of how beautifully sculpted his body was? He needed to get covered or I was going to lose control and ravage him again.

"Trunks, get some clothes on."

"Why?"

"Cause."

"Hang on a sec."

I wish I could. C'mere boy and let me ride ya like a ---wait, I need to stop.

"It's eleven thirty in the morning Pan."

"And?"

"I've missed three, no, four important meetings. Ooops."

"And I was supposed to have those figures for my client by ten. Ooops." I countered.

"We need notes from our mommies now." he joked as he placed my alarm clock back upon my nightstand.

"Nah, I'll just call in sick."

"Saiyans don't get sick Pan."

"My boss doesn't know that."

"Mine does."

"So just tell your mom that you-- hey wait, idea."

"???"

"Propose to me Trunks."

You should've seen the expression on his face when I said that. Yet another priceless moment. Too bad I didn't have it on tape. Oh wait, my camcorder's on light is lit. That's right! I was working on my presentation skills with it earlier that day! I must've forgotten to turn it off! I bet we bumped the tripod, it tilted, hit the 'record' button by use of the wall, then teetered back to its normal position. Hmmm, I wonder what it recorded all these hours? I'm glad you can't see how red my face is right now. Anyway, I'll just not tell Trunks about that just yet.

He gently grabbed my face and placed back to facing in his direction.

"You need to pay attention if I'm going to do this."

Did he just say...what is he doing? He's down on one knee and taking my hands in his. Is he aware we are both naked? I guess not.

"Dearest Pan, my hidden love for all these years, will you marry me?"

Speechless, but fearful this may all be a dream, I nodded and whispered yes.

_to be continued..._


	3. Bells & Whistles pt.3

ff: Bells & Whistles

**Bells & Whistles "Future"**

The wedding was like a fairy tale. Trunks made sure that this one was obviously out of love. It was what my grandmother and his mother had envisioned. He wanted the world to know that this one was of his heart's choice, not some convenience for business purposes. He had even invited those pesky reporters if only to prove that our wedding was the real McCoy. This time I was the bride in white, but even still, those tears formed in my eyes but for an entirely different reason. Bra looked at me and smirked that all too common Vegeta smirk. She knew. This time, these were tears of love and happiness, not those tears of longing and sorrow.

For some reason our honeymoon paled to what we had done that one night we tore up my room. But it was good nonetheless. We were finally allowed to show our love for each other without strange eyes upon us scrutinizing us because of our age difference or some other reason unknown to us. Actually we still got strange eyes, but that was more because of Trunks being his goofy self. It was hard for people to grasp the fact that one minute he was a serious, skilled corporate president/CEO and the next minute he was a goofy, foolish boy who loved to play. I'd never ask him to lose those endearing traits. My father said he may be schizophrenic, but I don't think so. I just think my dad's jealous because Trunks figured out how to master the skill of being an adult and kid at the same time. It's something my father never found or could scientifically explain. I told him it's like when he was a warrior and student at the same time, but to him, it wasn't the same. He said the scholar in him always won. I'd comfort him and tell him that the odds were against him anyway. He had two women molding his future...his mom and his wife. No male can win against those odds. Vegeta suffered the same fate. His mate and his daughter turned the mighty prince of saiyans into a loving father and earthling. An earthling with saiyan pride, he'd say, but c'mon, how far will that go? He's succumbed to the power of the human female too.

And now I have my Trunks. He's all mine. Of course I have to pass threatening glares to all those women who still stare and google over him. His company fan club still exists though they tred carefully when I'm in the building. In a way it's a positive thing. He's mine. They can stare and drool all they want, but he's my catch. He doesn't even look at other females with interest. He's very shy around them now, moreso than he was. I guess I have that 'power' that the other females with saiyan mates have.

I'm no longer a financial assistant in Satan City. I'm now the Senior Vice President of Capsule Corporation. Trunks technically calls me co-president, but he's just saying that because he doesn't want me to feel like I'm under him. In essence I'm glad I am. He's been trained to run this company all his life. I haven't. Capsule Corporation rebounded (as did the Briefs fortune) once we married. Upon returning to work after our honeymoon, Trunks was quick to jockey the stock market and acquire enough shares to initiate a hostile takeover of his ex-wife's company. Take that bitch! Sorry, I couldn't resist. Anyway, Trunks, being the gentleman that he is, didn't release anyone from that company including his ex. They are merely overseen by Capsule Corporation. In fact, I'm the head overseer of that. Excuse my snickering please.

Trunks was right when he asked me about that time of the month and said "oops." Oops is right. I was indeed pregnant from that night. But that was a given. Thanks to Trunks' medical exams during those months he and his ex were trying to have a child, it was found that he had the highest sperm count ever taken at that hospital. It happens to be the largest hospital on this planet too so that says something. I'm due to have a little boy. Bulma can rest easy. An heir is about to be born just a few short months from now. Trunks is a bit worried. He said being a daddy and running a company are two very different things. I hope so. I'd hate to see him initiate a hostile takeover of the dinner table. I assurred him that he'll do fine. He has all the right traits for being a great father. He just needs to act normal. Oh wait, is there a normal for him? Okay, now I'm nervous. Just kidding. We'll both do fine. And I'm never going to tell my father about that night before the wedding.The night my son was conceived. He'd pummel Trunks. I told my mother though. She let me in on a little secret. She and my dad did a very similar thing before their wedding night. In fact, I was conceived that night. Like father, like daughter eh? Okay, maybe I will tell dad. He has no argument against it now that I know that. Thanks mom!

I recently had a sonogram done. The little tike within me is, like his daddy, hung like a horse. Trunks gleamed with masculine pride when the doc said that. The child will also sport a tail. Trunks and I have decided it will remain. We haven't decided on a name yet, but Trunks seems fixed on Dante. He said, the tike was produced from the passionate inferno we had created that night in my room and that the events that led up to us getting together were a hell in their own right. I really don't want my child knowing that's how he was conceived, got his name, and that his daddy proposed to me while we were both naked and that all of it was on tape.The poor lad would end up sexually wounded before he even hit puberty.

So that's how "I got my man." I knew if I put it into writing that it would sound like a movie or something. Now that I look back and reread it, it is definite movie material. Nah, Trunks wouldn't go for it. He would want us to play "us." He would say nobody is as perfect as ourselves. His pride is still there afterall.

END. Fade to black.

Pan Son-Briefs 


End file.
